Bank set for growth as owners reaffirm commitment to the Kingdom

BRED Bank Cambodia plans to increase its operations after the bank’s European owners, BRED Group, committed a substantial increase of $35 million USD to its Tier 1 capital.

Since its launch in 2017, BRED Bank Cambodia has quickly established a thriving branch network while building a strong reputation as the Kingdom’s best bank for business. The increase, taking the bank’s capital base to $110 million USD, will support a strategy of rapid, sustainable and healthy growth in the bank’s products, services, branch network, lending capacity and staff recruitment and training.

Exceptional potential

“We’ve brought forward our plans because we believe in Cambodia,” says Olivier Klein, Chief Executive Officer of BRED Group. “Our direct experience and the success we’ve enjoyed in the last four years confirms the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) view that Cambodia has exceptional potential for economic growth.”

BRED Group agrees with the IMF’s five-year forecast and both expect Cambodia to become the top ASEAN country in terms of economic growth. The group also believes that the bank is perfectly placed to support the country’s ambitions - particularly with the business lending that underpins economic expansion.

Financial strength

“We are very fortunate to be part of a group that takes a long-term view,” says BRED Bank Cambodia, CEO, Guillaume Perdon, who believes that BRED Group’s co-operative bank structure allows greater investment flexibility. “We have the financial strength, even in these uncertain times, to make a substantial commitment to a programme of long-term growth.”

Despite its relatively short time in the Kingdom, BRED Bank Cambodia has enjoyed remarkable success. “We’ve made a great start from scratch,” says Guillaume Perdon, “and now we want to accelerate. That means we have to invest in people, in new tools and in our branch network. We’ve built on our strategy because we believe we can do even better than we have so far.”

While the bank expects to see the impact of its growth strategy from 2022 onwards, progress is already being made.

“We’re expanding our business and personal customer bases through targeted marketing initiatives, we’re developing new traditional and digital products and we’ll be adding to our branch and ATM networks,” says Perdon. “We’re also recruiting new staff across the business. We’re looking for the best of the best locally and internationally and creating valuable opportunities for talented individuals to progress.”

“While we’re working hard to deliver new digital products and capabilities, we know our clients particularly value the exceptional levels of personal service we provide,” adds Guillaume Perdon. “At a business level, our Relationship Managers have the experience to advise their customers on a broad range of issues and that adds real value to their businesses.”

Further investment

Although BRED Group’s investment in the Kingdom represents a significant commitment, Olivier Klein refused to rule out further investment in the future. “Our group is very strong financially and really believes in Cambodia’s potential to deliver significant returns. As well as investing here, we’re increasing support to operations in Fiji and building a strong international brand with outlets in many countries worldwide. As we deliver our plan, there is no question that the group has the financial capacity to increase its investment.”

Long-term support

Despite the current slowdown caused by the pandemic, BRED Bank Cambodia expects the nation to bounce back quickly as vaccination programmes are rolled out and global demand for goods manufactured in the Kingdom returns.

“We’re here to provide the long-term support that growing businesses need,” insists Guillaume Perdon. “At the same time, our tailored personal banking experience has proven to be extremely popular so we’re ideally placed to secure a very valuable segment of the Kingdom’s rapidly growing financial sector.”